When Jay Van Bavel, a social neuroscience professor at New York University, stepped into his apartment building elevator 10 minutes before his Introduction to Psychology class online, he “breathed a sigh of relief,” thinking he would start his lecture on time.  That is, until the elevator lurched downward before halting to a stop between floors.…

Swiss health authorities have ordered a quarantine for a staggering 2,500 students at a prestigious hospitality management school in the city of Lausanne after “significant outbreaks” of the coronavirus that are a suspected byproduct of off-campus partying.     Authorities in Switzerland’s Vaud canton, or region, said all undergraduates at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne,…

The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday canceled all in-person social events and ordered undergraduate students to restrict their movements for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.  The order from Chancellor Rebecca Blank comes as the number of coronavirus cases among students has continued to rise.…

Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm.  Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepes he was making and was whisked away by bus to a testing site.”We didn’t even know they were testing,” said Schmutz, who…

Several thousand people protested Sunday for the independence of Hungary’s University of Theatre and Film Arts following the imposition of a government-appointed board, which they say will undermine its autonomy.The management of the school, which nurtured many of Hungary’s most famous directors and filmmakers, resigned Monday in protest over the changes, which have also prompted…

George Washington University is investigating the case of a history professor who allegedly admitted to fraudulently pretending to be a Black woman for her entire career.In a blog post that has gained international attention, a writer claiming to be Jessica Krug, a GW associate professor of history, writes that she is in fact a white…

More than a dozen students gathered outside the University of Oklahoma’s administration building Thursday to protest what they say is an inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic.Students are violating the university and the city of Norman’s mask mandates at bars, restaurants and at fraternity and sorority functions, OU student Kellie Dick, a senior from Shawnee,…

Another wealthy parent was charged Wednesday with trying to bribe his child’s way into an elite university as a fake athletic recruit, a day after two former college coaches caught up in the nationwide admissions bribery scandal were hit with additional charges. Amin Khoury, 54, of Palm Beach, Florida, and Mashpee, Massachusetts, in May 2014 paid…

College towns across America are eager to see students return to classes this month and help local businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic. But as Mariama Diallo reports, local business owners are also worried there will be a surge in new cases.  …

A court filing disclosed Monday shows Big Ten Conference presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. The vote breakdown was revealed in the Big Ten’s response to the lawsuit.  The court documents did not identify how…

When the son of famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. took to the stage in Washington on Friday – 57 years after his father’s famous “I Have a Dream” address – he stepped aside for yet another King.“I am so honored to be here,” Martin Luther King III said while standing at the…

College athletes across the country added their voices to those calling for an end to racial injustice Friday with football players and others marching on campus or stepping away from practices to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.In Oklahoma, the Sooners football team walked in rows of three to the Unity Garden,…

As more and more schools and businesses around the country get the OK to reopen, some college towns are moving in the opposite direction because of too much partying and too many COVID-19 infections among students. With more than 300 students at the University of Missouri testing positive for the coronavirus, the local health director Friday…

Perry Porikos sat in the street outside one of his five businesses, in a makeshift patio area that didn’t exist before the COVID-19 pandemic  sent his best customers — University of Michigan students — back home in mid-March. The Greek immigrant arrived here more than four decades ago as a 20-year-old soccer player for the…

Hundreds of students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, didn’t participate in online learning last spring and all but vanished after the coronavirus pandemic drove the district to close classrooms. Keloland.com reported 700 kids, or 3% of the district’s student body, never connected with their teachers during the last quarter of the year. Assistant Superintendent Teresa Boysen said…

With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National…

It’s the end of summer in the US, a time when many families are preparing for the new school year. But with the threat of COVID-19 delaying a return to campuses across the country, preparations this year include trying to make online learning work better for everyone. Matt Dibble has the story …

Many schools are opening around the U.S. for in-person classes, but many others are offering classes online only.  That has set parents, school officials and community members scrambling to make sure every student has the equipment they need for online learning.The pandemic has drawn attention to a long-standing problem in the U.S.: the gap between students…

With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National…

Videoconferencing platform Zoom experienced worldwide outages Monday morning, coinciding with the first day of remote classes for many schools and universities. On its status page, Zoom reported partial outages for its website, meetings and webinars. By Monday afternoon, all systems were reported as operational. Downdetector recorded a spike in issue reports, mostly from North America and western…

Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays, of up to several months, in getting this year’s most crucial back-to-school supplies: the laptops and other equipment needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation has found. The world’s three biggest computer companies, Lenovo, HP and Dell, have told school districts they have a…

Some U.S.-based users of WeChat are suing President Donald Trump in a bid to block an executive order that they say would effectively bar access in the U.S. to the hugely popular Chinese messaging app.The complaint, filed Friday in San Francisco, is being brought by the nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people who…

It’s the end of summer in the US, a time when many families are preparing for the new school year. But with the threat of COVID-19 delaying a return to campuses across the country, preparations this year include trying to make online learning work better for everyone. Matt Dibble has the story …

The University of Iowa will drop four sports programs as part of the athletic department’s response to a projected loss of $100 million in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic.School president Bruce Harreld and athletic director Gary Barta said Friday that men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s swimming and diving will be discontinued…

Syracuse University has suspended 23 students following a large on-campus gathering, the latest example of college crackdowns on the kind of socializing that can spread the coronavirus and sink plans for in-person learning this semester.Syracuse officials announced the disciplinary action late Thursday and said they were reviewing security camera footage to identify additional students seen…

The high-profile faces of a college admissions scandal – a Hollywood actor and her fashion designer husband – have been sentenced to two and five months, respectively, in prison after pleading guilty of bribing their daughters’ way into prestigious schools.  Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced after a judge accepted their plea deal in federal…

A recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 Test Approved as US Testing…

President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them.Raising the issue at a White House news briefing, Trump said the virus is akin to the seasonal flu for college students and that students pose a greater safety threat…